The big problem is that if you don’t notice the folder rename and soft reset the device it will create an empty “\Storage Card” folder that will be used as the storage card. However the old “\Storage Card2″ will still be there and you will not be able to delete the new “\Storage Card”. Also, applications from “\Storage Card2″ will not be launched from shortcuts.

After many ROMs updates I am not able to fix completely this problem but I figured out how to fix it without hard resetting the device. The new “\Storage Card” folder cannot be deleted but… it can be renamed. So all you have to do is to rename “\Storage Card” to something else like “\Storage Card3″ and reset the device. After this, “\Storage Card2″ will become “\Storage Card” and you are free to delete “\Storage Card3″.

A new set of APIs is being introduced that will enable application developers to take advantage of the new Windows Mobile 6.5 touch gesture framework. The gesture APIs allow an application to handle touch gesture input and provide a visually consistent experience with the rest of the device UI. Note that the gesture APIs are only available on the Windows Mobile Classic and Professional SKUs.

Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit comes with the following Emulator Images:

• Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional Square Emulator
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional QVGA Emulator
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional WQVGA Emulator
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional VGA Emulator
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional WVGA Emulator
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard Square Emulator
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard QVGA Emulator

In order to install the SDK and integrate it with Visual Studio you must also install the Windows Mobile 6.0 SDK. Make sure you install this first. I had problems with the 6.5 SDK because I forgot to install 6.0 SDK. If you somehow install 6.5 without 6.0 you must uninstall the first one in order to reinstall it…

The Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Kit can be downloaded from this link.

• Ask people about the ROM you want to install. Make sure it did not brake any phone.
• The phone’s battery must be at least 50% charged (better 100%)
• Make sure you have and UPS. Or a laptop with good battery because if you cancel the process after it started the results might be unexpected.
• Make sure the USB cable is firmly connect and is not broken!

I cannot be made responsible for any damages caused directly or indirectly by this article.

On PortegeClub.com there is a WM 6.5 ROM Release Candidate for the G900. Because PortegeClub is not always working I uploaded the ROM on my server  and you can download it from this link. It is not the kitchen version (clean version) and it includes some software but it is reasonable and it is not bloated.

The upgrade process is simple:

1. Get the ROM
2. Get SuperRUU
3. Run SuperRUU on a 32 bit Windows machine
4. Select the ROM image and check the “OS” radio button
5. Click “Upgrade target”.
6. Turn off the phone and start it while pressing the left softkey. A red screen should appear informing you that you need USB connection.
7. Connect the phone to the PC running SuperRUU and the upgrade process should start. Do not interrupt it!!! It takes about two minutes.

WM6.5 brings a new startup logo and animation and a lot of other visual changes.

The first thing you will notice after startup is the new redesigned Today screen which supports widgets just like the HTC home screen. It’s aspect is nice but you will find out soon that it cannot be customized. The only item supporting customization is the favorites widget :( Like usual there are widgets for time, messages, calls, pictures and music. Also you can use the classical Today screen items but you will use the eye-candy widgets. What I really enjoyed is that you can scroll through items by moving your finger over the screen in any region not just on the right side – this is a nice addition and also works for menus.

Another major interface change is the start menu. Well it is no longer MENU, it’s a start screen that displays shortcuts to applications and phone settings. They are all arranged in the well-known WM6.5 combs and have a nice aspect. You can also scroll through items with your finger and when you get to the top/bottom of the menu there is a visual bounce effect that creates a realistic sensation. What is hard here is to navigate with the hardware DPad through items because pressing right many times cycles through a “row” of the comb and is not going the lower items. You must use all directions to navigate.

There are some other major visual changes but I don’t have screenshots for them. The first thing is the unlock screen which has an object that must be slide in order to unlock the phone just like on iPhone. The second are the menus that are larger and more “finger-friendly” – you can navigate easily with the finger through them.

On my G900 screen rotation took almost 10 seconds (from portrait to landscape). While using the PDA in landscape the icons seemed crowded, hard to follow and the Today screen was not so good looking.

Because it is not an official release I cannot say it works bad. There could be “unofficial” reasons why this is not working properly. Anyhow, I haven’t seen other major changes except the interface. The problem with interface changes is that you get used to them quickly and then you start to see what is not working. The ringtones are corrupted in this ROM and the SD card is disconnecting after a few hours so I reverted the ROM to a kitchen version of Windows Mobile 6.1 – you should try the 6.5, it’s a nice experience!

[One small step for man one giant leap for mankind.]

Live Mesh puts you at the center of your digital world, seamlessly connecting you to the people, devices, programs, and information you care about – available wherever you happen to be.

Live Mesh is a free service. You get a live desktop with 5 GB storage space where you can place your files. Also you can sync files between devices without uploading the on the live desktop.

The current version, because is just a Tech Preview, offers support only for Windows but the versions for Mac and Windows Mobile are promised to come soon.

To add a device you have to log to mesh.com and choose Add Device. After this you get a small application that you install and that’s it. Now you can choose what folders and how to synchronize them.

Also, you can access your Live desktop from any web browser and you can see the files that you have uploaded – the web interface is pretty cool and looks like a Windows Vista Desktop :)

One of the most interesting features of Live Mesh is the Remote Desktop. If one of the PCs from your Mesh network (one of your devices) is online you can connect remote to it and you don’t have to care about dynamic IPs.

TIP: Mesh is now available only for users from US but if you change the country from live profile to United States you can join the program ;) You can change it back after this.

Live Mesh seems to me one of the most useful and interesting things Microsoft released in the last year.

After almost two months of research I finally decided to buy a G900. I needed a new mobile phone but I also wanted some big screen in order to be able to navigate on the Internet without carrying the laptop with me. So what I was searching was:

• Big screen
• Wireless network card
• QWERTY keyboard
• Touch screen
• GSM support

Toshiba Portege G900 has all this and even more but with some costs.

There are three things you will notice on G900 at the first look: the big display, no numeric keyboard and the size. Some people will categorize this phone as “huge” and they are probably right because it has 119 x 61 x 21.5 mm (4.68 x 2.4 x 0.84 in) and weights almost 200 g.

There is no numeric keyboard like on most mobile phones. Phone numbers can be dialed by using the keyboard that appears on the screen – it has big buttons so there should be no problem in pressing them with the finger – or by sliding the QWERTY and typing the number from there.

The screen. I mean THE SCREEN is a 3” touch screen display with a resolution of 800×480. The resolution is one of the best on the market (most PDA’s have 320×240 or 640×480). It is great for web navigation because almost any webpage can fit it’s width in 800 pixels so there is no need of vertical scrooling which means a faster any easier navigation.

Except of the three things mentioned above the aspect is a classic one. There is a navigation pad in the center of the buttons block, the classical accept/reject(end) call, two softkeys and four buttons that can be configured as you with (by default they are: Start, Contacts, OK and Messaging). On the right side there is a volume button and the camera button while on top there is the power button. I forgot to mention one important button that is positioned above the screen oposite to the front camera; by default it launches the Internet browser but many people, including me, found that is more appropriate for rotating the screen.

On the left side of the device is a headset jack and the MiniSD card slot while on the bottom there is a mini USB connector where you connect the data cable or the power charger. All connectors are covered by rubber lids. Near the USB connector is the telescopic stylus.

There are two cameras, a rear 2 MP one and a front VGA one. Pictures quality is OK for outdoor photos but you need a tripod for night shots because there is no stabilizer. On a scale from from 1 to 5 I would rate picture quality with 3.5.

There is also a sliding full QWERTY keyboard. Many mobile devices that have keyboards also have some small buttons that are hard to press. G900 has quite large buttons but the top row, in my opinion, is to close to the side of the screen and sometimes the keys are hard to be pressed.

Equipped with a 520 MHz processor and 128 MB of RAM memory Toshiba Portege G900 is able to run many applications simultaneous. Windows Mobile 6 Professional runs exceptional on this device but there is some lag when you rotate the screen.

One interesting undocumented thing is that this mobile device is equipped with a Goforce 5500 graphic accelerator, the same GPU as on O2 XDA Flame. Some more information about this topic can be found here.

Another useful addition is a finger print reader. It’s main purpose is for security but Toshiba implemented cool features. You can click on the finger print reader or even scroll pages by sliding your finder over it. This biometric reader is placed behind the screen and is available only when the keyboard is visible.

The default software configuration includes Windows Mobile 6 Professional, Office Mobile, Opera browser, Picsel Viewer and some Toshiba applications. Another options that can be activated by software is the USB connection option – you can connect any USB device to G900 (memory stick, camera, etc).

I’ve read on some sites that the phone has problems with the battery and lasts under a day but the battery of my G900 resisted almost three days.

Full specifications:

In the following video, you can see an overview of the new interface and menu structure, including the clever pattern-based unlock screen. Much of the GUI can be interacted with – for instance pulling down the title bar reveals missed calls and new messages – using the familiar palette of swipes and taps. You can also see the straightforward way to create shortcuts on the home screen; a matter of holding down your finger and then following through the contextual menus.